


Subtle Shift to Instinctive Intimacy

by masquev2



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:13:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23952865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/masquev2/pseuds/masquev2
Summary: Just a cute moment of fluff between our two time travelling ladies.
Relationships: Thasmin - Relationship, Thirteenth Doctor/Yasmin Khan
Comments: 9
Kudos: 40





	Subtle Shift to Instinctive Intimacy

Ryan wasn’t planning on spying.

The fact that he was sitting on one of the higher hexagonal platforms and cloaked in the shadows at the outer edges of the TARDIS console room was pure coincidence. It was early in the morning. Actually he wasn’t really sure what time it was, it was always so difficult to keep track of time out here in the Time Vortex, but as he had just woken from a full eight hours of sleep and no one else was milling around he was going to call it morning. He had situated himself in the console room because he considered the low glow and hum of the cavernous space to be soothing and helped to guide his thoughts towards the letter he was writing to his father.

So he definitely wasn’t spying.

Forty minutes after his arrival The Doctor had ambled in, long coat swishing as she descended the steps to stand with her hands on her hips as she surveyed the control panel before her. She appeared to be completely oblivious to his presence as she pursed her lips, pouting from one side to the other, she circled the console and scrutinised each of the work stations, inspecting various switches, dials and levers. After she had completed a full circuit she gave a brief nod having made a decision; sleeves of her coat rolled up she dropped to a crouch and out of sight. Ryan returned to his correspondence.

He was still not spying.

Sometime later movement to his left caught his attention and he looked up just as Yaz shuffled into the room. She looked relaxed in her larger than necessary orange jumper that practically reached her knees with sleeves that were bunched up to keep her hands free, over black leggings that were tucked into a pair of slouching well-worn boot slippers. Her hair had yet to be styled for the day, so instead of a severe top knot or intricate braids her dark locks hung loosely, cascading over her shoulders and down her back. Yeah, relaxed was the right word.

She stopped at the top of the stairs but didn’t notice him; she was far too absorbed with watching the scene before her. What she saw made her smile, a soft and gentle smile, an amused and adoring smile, and finally a quiet chuckle escaped.

The Doctor had switched to another work station while Ryan had been focused on his letter. Now a pair of legs was all that could be seen of The Doctor, her left hand appeared and floundered against the floor grating as she searched for the right tool which seemed to be just out of reach. Her whole body squirmed as she wriggled forward a few inches, found the right tool, then wriggled backward the same distance. A minute later a blonde head appeared and The Doctor leapt up to see if her tinkering had done the job.

Still immersed in the success of her task The Doctor was unaware of Yaz’s approach, allowing the younger woman to close the distance between them unnoticed. Just a couple of steps away and Yaz reached out, delicate fingers brushing the fabric of the light blue coat, a gentle hand slipping around a slim waist and settling tenderly over the curve of a hip. Before the affectionate gesture was even complete The Doctor lifted her arm to encircle Yaz’s shoulders and draw the younger woman into her side, finishing with a playful squeeze that brought them even closer together.

And maybe he had observed other such moments – observing was a completely different thing from spying – between his two friends since The Doctor had returned from what she had termed her ‘prison sabbatical’ before promptly refusing to speak of it with them. There had been a subtle shift in the relationship of the two women, an intimacy that was as casual as it was instinctive. It wasn’t that The Doctor wasn’t a tactile person usually; a sympathetic pat to Graham’s shoulder when we was confused by something, an enthusiastic punch to Ryan’s upper arm when he did something right, an excitable grab of Yaz’s hand to drag her somewhere and show her something interesting. But when she had staggered from the TARDIS upon her return from wherever she had been locked up she had greeted both Ryan and Graham with the usual ‘glad to be alive’ hug and then stumbled into Yaz’s arms. She held onto the younger woman for long moments, seeming to steady both herself and Yaz who appeared just as reluctant the let The Doctor go.

The Doctor inclined her head towards Yaz as she spoke animatedly of the repairs she had made, gesticulating wildly with the arm that was not curled snuggly around Yaz’s shoulders. Yaz simply gazed up at The Doctor, clearly not understanding a single word being said, just content to be in the enigmatic presence. Yaz did manage to drag her attention from the other woman but only when The Doctor nudged her hip and pointed at one of the many levers on the console before them. Yaz reached out and placed her hand on the lever and Ryan almost objected out loud. The Doctor never let any of them touch the various instruments and controls of the TARDIS, it was blatantly obvious who the favourite was.

The Doctor nodded and Yaz pushed down on the lever, there was an explosive hiss as steam escaped from the central column and the Time Rotor launched into action. Startled, Yaz almost tripped as she stepped backwards but the arm around her would not let her fall – keeping her safe, keeping her close.

The Doctor raised the lever and the up/down motion of the Time Rotor ceased, the whine of the engines silencing to the usual hum.

In the near quiet that followed the two women stood facing one another, sharing a look and a moment that was filled with nothing more than warmth and affection and each other. Yaz slipped her arms around The Doctor’s waist and lowered her head until her brow rested against the other woman’s breastbone; instinctively The Doctor curled her arms around Yaz’s body, her own head lowering so that she could press her lips to the soft dark hair upon Yaz’s head.

Ryan realised he had crossed the line into spying.

Gathering his pen and paper he made a hasty, and what he hoped was a stealthy exit. He was loathe to intrude any longer on this moment that he felt he had no right to witness.

Holding Yaz made her feel good; it made her feel more than good, it made her feel content, and more at peace than she had felt in an age. She had promised that she would only allow herself a momentary indulgence when she had practically collapsed into her younger friend upon her return from Shada. She had thought that all she had needed was the touch of another person, what she had actually needed was the touch of one particular person: Yaz. Later, unable to deny that her need was so brief she had sought out Yaz; a touch had turned to a caress that lead to a kiss and ended with them in bed together, and they had done so every day since.

There was so much right here in the circle of her arms that she could push all else aside and just exist in the here and now; with the beat of this precious human heart, the gentle strength of the embrace, the soul entrusted to her care. She could happily be.

Yaz stirred, she had heard a scuffle from somewhere in the shadows. She was reluctant to lift her head from where it rested against The Doctor’s chest; each night that they had spent together this was where she had laid her head, lulled to sleep by the dual alien heartbeats beneath her ear. It was a reminder that The Doctor was alive, and she was here. But after a second scuffle followed by a squeak of trainers against metal Yaz felt compelled to investigate the source, ignoring the startled huff from The Doctor as she was forced to abandon her tacit connection with the younger woman, Yaz raised her head in time to see a Ryan shaped figure disappear through the door that led to the rest of the TARDIS.

“Was that Ryan?” Yaz squealed, a note of concern tinging her voice as a twinge of panic began in her gut. She wondered how much he had seen and what he thought he had seen?

The Doctor glanced over to where Ryan had been sitting and then behind her to the door, “Yeah, he’s been in here for the last couple of hours writing a letter to his dad.” She had been aware of him from the moment she had entered the room; surmising that he was seeking solitude for working on his missive she had left him undisturbed. She returned her attention back to her companion, dropping her hands to lock around the smaller woman’s waist when Yaz leaned away from her with a questioning look upon her features.

“So he saw… everything,” Yaz had thought, maybe even hoped, that Ryan had walked in and upon seeing that the room was occupied had seen fit to leave immediately. Discovering that he had been there the whole time meant that he had witnessed cuddles and head kisses, and maybe even caught her lecherous grin as she watched The Doctor squirming around under the console.

A nod of a blonde head; The Doctor appearing unconcerned by the thought of their fledgling relationship being known. The woman was always so unruffled and Yaz had the sudden urge to ruffle.

So, if the idea of Ryan knowing about the change in their relationship status wasn’t enough to bother her, then perhaps, “He’s probably going to tell Graham.”

Another quick nod of her head, “Probably.”

The Doctor could even picture the scene: Ryan rushing into the kitchen and relaying what he had seen to the older man and Graham almost chocking on his Crunchy Nut Cornflakes, his un-caffeinated brain not quite ready to process the information until he was properly awake. She was almost sad that she was going to miss it, but she decided she had much more important matters at hand, quite literally.

Yaz resisted the temptation of the arms that were trying to draw their bodies back together again, she deserved some kind of reward for her restraint but she would accept that later on, right now she was on mission, “And then he’ll most likely tell my sister.” Yaz knew there would come a time when she would question the wisdom of giving Sonja’s mobile number to Ryan. She just hadn’t expected it to be so soon, or for it to be at her own expense.

“Most likely.” The Doctor acknowledged with a tilt of her head. She knew that despite the frequent sibling squabbles she had witnessed at the Khan Residence the two sisters were close and that Yaz’s happiness and wellbeing were incredibly important to Sonja. The younger Khan sister made no secret that she thought The Doctor was weird, but if she made Yaz happy then that was all that would matter to Sonja.

One card left to play, the ace up her sleeve, “And Sonja will definitely tell my mum.”

There it was; a slight widening of eyes, an almost audible gulp, and an increase in the double heartbeat beneath the hands she had so casually laid upon The Doctor’s chest for just that reason. Yaz giggled at her success, The Doctor was well and truly ruffled.

“Definitely.” It wasn’t that The Doctor was worried about Yaz’s mum finding out about them being romantically involved; indeed the fact that Yaz’s mum had been aware enough to ask if they were seeing each other when they first met indicated that she hadn’t thought it out of the realm of possibility. But there was a vast difference between wondering if your firstborn daughter and the strange woman she had brought home were engaged in certain activities and knowing it.

The slightly panicked look in The Doctor’s eyes was starting to make Yaz regret her course of action. She tapped the fingers of her right hand lightly against the other woman’s chest to get her attention, “Hey, are you okay with other people knowing about us?”

 _Us_ , it was such a small word to mean something so big, to encompass so much. To all at once be happy and scared, secure and vulnerable, falling and flying. She took Yaz’s face in both of her hands, “Yasmin Khan, most awesome human being. If you’re okay with it, then I’m okay with it.” And then she lowered her head and pressed her lips to Yaz’s, putting everything that was _Us_ into it.

The kiss shook Yaz to her very soul, and she could only answer, “Very okay.”


End file.
